I hope, in that event, that they will consult closely with GRRM so that the ending makes some kind of sense within the established rules of that world. I really hope it doesn't come to that, but if it does, it should be done with the author's blessing.

When they first started work on the show GRRM told the producers the ending he had planned in broad strokes. More recently they had a long session with him in a hotel boardroom where they spent hours going over where he intends all of the major storylines and characters to end up.

^^^ Huh...that symbolism never occurred to me at the time, but that sounds pretty plausible, now that I'm thinking about it. If that's true,

this may mean that Jon Snow becomes the embodiment of both Ice and Fire - Ice, being his home for many years in the North and at the Wall, and Fire, for supposedly being brought back to life by Mellisandre after the assassination attempt using the power of the Red God, once she realizes that he is the true second coming of Azor Ahai and not Stannis.

Can you provide a source for that second part? That's the first time I'm hearing of this.

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It was mentioned in a few of the interviews they did when the third season premiere was coming up. I've found this one reference from HitFix in March to the meeting with Martin this year where they went over where the storylines are heading in more detail:

They’re as worried about when the remaining books come out as you are: Actually, “I guess we spend more time worrying than the fans,” Benioff said. The two of them visited Martin at his home in Santa Fe back in February to pump him for information about where all the stories are going, so they can properly set them up in the world of the show, and “It was incredibly useful,” according to Benioff.

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I thought I'd read elsewhere it was in a hotel boardroom rather than Martin's home. Either the various stories about it got things mixed up or my memory was faulty.

^^^ Huh...that symbolism never occurred to me at the time, but that sounds pretty plausible, now that I'm thinking about it. If that's true,

this may mean that Jon Snow becomes the embodiment of both Ice and Fire - Ice, being his home for many years in the North and at the Wall, and Fire, for supposedly being brought back to life by Mellisandre after the assassination attempt using the power of the Red God, once she realizes that he is the true second coming of Azor Ahai and not Stannis.

The visit in February also included Bryan Cogman, who mentioned it in a Rolling Stone interview:

David, Dan and I just met with him over a few days at his home in Santa Fe, and it was so exhilarating to hear him talk about the mythology of Westeros and what's in store for the characters. It's going to be a hell of a lot of fun moving forward.

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I imagine they get together with him at least annually to talk about what they have planned for the following season and the ways in which it might conflict with what's coming in future books.

On his Conan appearance last night Martin said he was writing The Winds of Winter "very fast" because he's fully aware the show might catch up. I wouldn't read too much into that, but he did seem more generally optimistic about his progress than in interviews from last year, when he was still in "it's a long way off" mode. Most of the extra projects he took on in the burst of optimism that followed finishing Dance have been finished (or cancelled), so he may have more time to devote to the book now.

There was never a projected early 2014 release; at one point he said that was the soonest it could possibly happen, but the intention there was to rule out 2012 and 2013, not to project any actual date. It's been a year since then; at this point I'd say the chances of early 2014 are virtually nil.

He even specifically says it is a monster "1500 page manuscript like the last one", so he must be pretty far along. I know there were a few hundred pages left out of the previous book, and a few chapters he had written waaay back that keep getting pushed back, so it is possible he may be well on his way to having something to turn in this winter or next year.

Remember that the last 2 books were in large part 'filler' while pieces got moved around to where they needed to be to for the lead-up to the climax. Jon, Bran and a few other characters obviously had some very important events happen to them, but it is still mostly setup for what is to come. Now that everything is primed to go, I don't think it unlikely that his enthusiasm and pace have picked up as well.

He's just saying he plans on 1500 manuscript pages, which he's been saying about each of the last two books ever since finishing Dance.

He had somewhere between 100 and 200 manuscript pages (about five to ten chapters) left over when he finished Dance, plus an unknown amount of rough draft and partial chapters, and a full year later he had 200 pages complete and 200 of drafts and partials.

On Conan last night he said he's writing faster than usual because he doesn't want the show to catch up with him. I wouldn't be surprised if we see it next summer. Consider how fast he wrote A Storm of Swords.

It was mentioned in a few of the interviews they did when the third season premiere was coming up. I've found this one reference from HitFix in March to the meeting with Martin this year where they went over where the storylines are heading in more detail:

They’re as worried about when the remaining books come out as you are: Actually, “I guess we spend more time worrying than the fans,” Benioff said. The two of them visited Martin at his home in Santa Fe back in February to pump him for information about where all the stories are going, so they can properly set them up in the world of the show, and “It was incredibly useful,” according to Benioff.

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I thought I'd read elsewhere it was in a hotel boardroom rather than Martin's home. Either the various stories about it got things mixed up or my memory was faulty.

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Thanks. I guess that explains some of those semi-bookspoilers that we got this season. Like the confirmation of Theon's gelding or Melissandre's "We will see each other again." to Arya.